Personally not a fan of the Bose headphones, I returned mine. Good at reducing droning sound but not higher frequencies and the quality of sound left a lot to wish for. I would not consider using them in my shop.

I did a little hack to enable listening to music in the shop while doing menial tasks such as sanding down 100+ interior doors for a new coat of paint...

I picked up a pair of old style Koss headphones, a decent pair for chump change. I then encased them in a Pair of 3M/Peltor X4A which is a pretty high dB rated "slim style" pair with a more dense foam inside than the regular pairs. I can run an FM radio/MP3, my iPhone or for the most part my tiny iPod Shuffle tethered to the ear protectors.

The sound is actually unexpectedly good from the Koss earphones when encased in the Peltor ear protectors. I use them when sanding drywall, general sanding or other menial tasks at the workshop. I would not play music while working with routers or table saws and I don't talk on the phone while I am working so I am fine with this set up.

The quality of sound actually surpasses the Bose QC 25 unit I had. I have done the same with another pair of Peltors (with Sennheiser phones in them) and I have an older pair of Peltor with FM radio which is ok too but we have poor reception in the work shop so I prefer MP3-players.

I have tried Howard Leigh (passive with phone jack) and newer Zekler with AUX input but the EC standard 85dB cutoff level is a joke - it takes no consideration to source level rendering it unusable as a weak recording/source material or FM source becomes inaudible even at the highest available level on the headphones. I prefer my own cut off point thank you very much and the inserted KOSS and Senn's allow me to adjust accordingly.

Line up has been reduced with the introduction of Mafell/Metabo tools. Red Green and Blue do mix well in the shop.

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For the most part I use ear plugs on a string, the kind that sits a little deeper in ear and that are made out of silicone and not foam. They are my preferred choice as I generally find ear phones a bit "clammy".

For the sanding I do with the ETS EC 150 I can get by, easily, with any Sony/HTC ear plugs with music running. The shells on the Peltor ear protectors can and do resonate or "drone" when I have been sanding down doors, to the point it is annoying. The earplugs don't do that.

The Peltor pair I modded is nice to have in the workshop when me or the other guys are running heavier machinery.

Replacing one sound louder at the ear to cover a loud noise does not protect the ear at all and that is EXACTLY what the music type headphones are doing. It's not protection in the least.

I also have two pair of different Senns and they are fantastic! I even used them for a short time in the shop until I realized all I was doing was cranking them up doing what I tell my kids not to do.

Music type headphones simply do not save the ear drum. Just put them on and dont run music or sound through them, one second of that and using a loud machine, even an ETS and CT on low will prove they dont do a darn thing.

Once you get a true hearing projection with a speaker for sound, whether Bluetooth or not, I bet you won't ever go back to regular headphones( Senn's, Bose or whatever) in the shop again.

Even without music I cannot hear the extractor or most tools. I actually think this is more dangerous, as in leaving equipment running because you cannot hear it. The issue is I like listening to music when I work.

For the most part I use ear plugs on a string, the kind that sits a little deeper in ear and that are made out of silicone and not foam. They are my preferred choice as I generally find ear phones a bit "clammy".

For the sanding I do with the ETS EC 150 I can get by, easily, with any Sony/HTC ear plugs with music running. The shells on the Peltor ear protectors can and do resonate or "drone" when I have been sanding down doors, to the point it is annoying. The earplugs don't do that.

The Peltor pair I modded is nice to have in the workshop when me or the other guys are running heavier machinery.

Yes Henrik those models silicon are the best, but the $60 ones does the business for reducing noise. The only issue is that the cord needs to be run inside the shirt to keep it out of the way.

I would never wear corded headphones in the shop, even if I ran the cord under my shirt or like that.

I have several pairs of ear muffs in the shop and also boxes of foamies in several locations.

Last year I purchased custom in the ear fitted electronic shooting protection, wow that was EXPENSIVE but I now use them in the shop all day and love it. I can play music in the shop and these ear plugs amplify the sound and clip all sound at 80db by 30NRR, the only negative is that any sound lower than 80db is amplified to 80db but I have a fairly quiet shop since its just me. But some very quiet tools are actually amplified, luckily there is a super easy to get to on/off switch and then its very comfortable total silence.

I didn't buy these for working in the shop, I bought them for my other hobby which is shooting, they are great for that and I find I now wear them in the shop and also doing yard work. When I say EXPENSIVE I mean it, more than Festool even.

Replacing one sound louder at the ear to cover a loud noise does not protect the ear at all and that is EXACTLY what the music type headphones are doing. It's not protection in the least.

I also have two pair of different Senns and they are fantastic! I even used them for a short time in the shop until I realized all I was doing was cranking them up doing what I tell my kids not to do.

Music type headphones simply do not save the ear drum. Just put them on and dont run music or sound through them, one second of that and using a loud machine, even an ETS and CT on low will prove they dont do a darn thing.

Once you get a true hearing projection with a speaker for sound, whether Bluetooth or not, I bet you won't ever go back to regular headphones( Senn's, Bose or whatever) in the shop again.

Even without music I cannot hear the extractor or most tools. I actually think this is more dangerous, as in leaving equipment running because you cannot hear it. The issue is I like listening to music when I work.

I think most, if not all, in this thread agree that drowning noise with noise is not the objective... If you have not tried earphones that actually attenuate noise even while not playing music you need to get out more. I think it is as simple as horses for courses and for roughly 75% of my work (which runs from A-Z and back again in diversity) I get by, easily, with good ear plugs, small ones like the ones mentioned earlier in the thread.

I cherish my hearing and I am - like so many others - a bit of an audiophile and would _never_ risk my hearing. I am turning 45 and I still have very acute hearing despite being in this trade for the last twenty years.

Many people don't have a deeper understanding of dB and sound pressure in relation to the frequency range and the inherent dangers of _some_ of them. I have learnt some about it from a friend who is a renowned psycho acoustic researcher and who knows more about human hearing than, probably, all of the woodworking forum members combined. There is noise that can kill your ears swiftly and abruptly in no time and noise that doesn't do much at all even over a longer period - though sound pressure levels and exposure are exactly the same. All noise is not created equal and some is simply put, not even affecting the ear drums adversely much at all despite a high sound pressure level.

Knowledge is power and caution is key.

Some things I would never expose myself too but for a lot of the tasks as mentioned earlier in the thread light protection suffices - with margin to spare. I seldom use heavier ear protection but I have them in the work shop and one pair in the field kit and I definitely use them when I am in a situation that demands it. I have even used both silicone plugs and Peltors combined while watching some guys sandblasting a huge door - it was one of the worst types of noise I have ever been subjected too - jet engine type roar on a reflective surface in a confined space from a few meters away and still there were a few guys that had NO hearing protection and were looking on - playing tough and grinning away... I really pity them, it was as stupid as it gets.

Mikeyr: As you can see in the photos there is no cord running under shirt with this simple hack. I hate cords. I do feel it is a bit bulky at times but I have the light option of having the iPod shuffle clipped to my glasses with a short corded pair of earphones that only run from ear to ear - they are my favourite.

Which fitted earphones did you get? I am interested in getting a pair myself, I value my hearing and feeling unrestricted and if the solution is great I don't mind shelling out for it.

I use my Bose QC35 bluetooth noise cancelling headphones for about 4 hours daily as I work in my home shop. I agree with much of what has been said here, and came down to choosing them for many reasons. I compared them to my 3M Peltor ear muffs, as well as foam ear plugs. My experience is wide, including motorcycling, long distance truck driving, shop work since childhood, Burning Man and other music festivals yearly, and training and 20 years working as an MD.

I like listening to music and not missing phone calls, as well as receiving notification of incoming text messages when I work. If I am deep and do not want any interruptions then I put my phone on silent. I wanted to like the 3M Peltor products I own but do not. The Bose are much more comfortable - I can wear them for hours and forget they are on my head! I also did not like the transition from noisy activity, put on headphones, quiet activity, remove, noisy, put on, etc. I ended up leaving the Peltors over by the saw, then running compressed air, blowing off stuff, compressor comes on, then vacuum a little bit, then drill some metal, then climb a ladder and run some lag bolts in with the impact (ouch!) and I just winced and continued because I didn't want to go find the ear muffs for such short intermittent dispersed tasks. With the Bose I am free to roam, make intermittent noise, and am always protected.

My 'final exam' came a few days ago when I used a jig saw to cut a rectangular hole in a metal drum. Great noise!! I switched between Peltors and Bose and preferred the feel of the Bose. The Peltors always leave me feeling a little cut off from the world, with the Bose I feel like I am in the world, but protected by a gentle sound buffer.

In summary I realized that the best noise/ear protection is the one that is most likely to be used, any shortcomings of the QC35 are outweighed by the fact that I use them all of the time, versus the Peltors which I can't wait to take off given the discomfort, lack of music, and weird disconnected feeling I have with them on.